BC’s minimum wage will increase to $18.25 per hour beginning next week

BC’s minimum wage will officially be bumped up from $17.85 to $18.25 per hour starting next week. 

The increase comes into effect on June 1st, and reflects a 2.1% bump, which is based on the province’s average monthly inflation rate in 2025. 

The BC government also noted that the same percentage increase will apply to all minimum wage workers, the minimum rates for resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers, live-in camp leaders and app-based ride-hailing and delivery service workers.

The Province has committed to an annual increase to minimum wage that is directly tied to inflation. This initiative was put in place to try to protect BC’s lowest-paid workers, while providing employers with certainty and predictability.

In BC, there are approximately 141,300 employees earning the minimum wage or less in 2025.

BC has the third highest minimum wage in Canada, just behind Nunavut and Yukon, where minimum wage is $19.75 per hour and $18.51 per hour respectively.

In Greater Victoria, the living wage is considered to be $27.40 per hour. Across British Columbia, living wages range from $21.55 to $29.60 per hour.

Ten years ago, in 2016, the general minimum wage in British Columbia increased from $10.45 per hour to $10.85 per hour. 

This means that in the last decade, minimum wage has increased by a margin of approximately 68%.